


A Little Bit Soft

by Not_A_Valid_Opinion



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: A Sheriff's Tale Zine, Badgerclops and Mao Mao meeting expanded upon, Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Zine, and then travelling through the years with some time skips, cartoon violence, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27996210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_A_Valid_Opinion/pseuds/Not_A_Valid_Opinion
Summary: Badgerclops extends a paw. With a dangerous (warm, he’d call it later) smile, Mao Mao gives it a shake.And, with that, their fates are set.(Written for the A Sheriff's Tale zine, a Badgerclops/Mao Mao collection.)
Relationships: Badgerclops/Mao Mao Mao
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	A Little Bit Soft

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a lyric from "monster", a song from Adventure Time- Obsidian

The first time they meet, Mao Mao saves him. The weight of the rocks toppled atop Badgerclops’ foot is staggering, and it's the fear of being left alone (abandoned, as he would refuse to admit for quite some time) with a weaponized stranger aiming a sword his way that keeps him from instinctively freeing himself from his predicament. As fact was, he could have easily gotten out on his own; he was considered the  _ muscle  _ of the Thicket Thieves for a reason. His cybernetic arm could lift only a little less than his own body weight, so one at a time, he could have pushed the rocks from his trapped foot until he was released. 

But, with a sword to his face, that wasn’t where his mind was. 

His mind went to  _ I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’m gonna get hacky slashed by a CAT!  _

__ He’s not quite sure what he yells in plea for his life, but the sword does not meet his soft, badgery flesh, nor even the cold metal attachments to it. Instead, it strikes between the rocks, dislodging them until they topple off of him on their own in one swift movement. Then it’s just Badgerclops and the cat, holding out a gloved paw to help him up. 

And his mind goes to  _ I’m gonna have a new best friend.  _

__ “Here,” says the cat, the stranger, the nicest person Badgerclops has ever met. His eyes are hard, his voice rough, and everything about his mannerisms screams ‘sharp’- both his mind and his sword. Mao Mao, as he’d introduced himself as (and Badgerclops had been forced to make an effort  _ not  _ to laugh about), gestures to Hippet Hale. The small town below the cliff atop which they stand glows bright and carelessly as the sun sets behind them. “There will probably be someone who can take a look at your foot down there.” 

Alarm bells ring in the badger’s head. “Wha- you’re leaving me?” 

The cat blinks, surprised. “Uhhh,  _ no.  _ You’re a criminal. I’m not gonna just unleash you on some poor, undeserving town. No, we’re going down there together to get that,” he gestures to the leg that had been pinned under the rocks, of which Badgerclops had been limping to avoid stepping on as much as he could, “medical attention. Then you’re gonna help me hunt down the rest of your little robber crew so justice can be swiftly served.” 

Badgerclops’ eye widens. The Thicket Thieves had been scattered as soon as Mao Mao raised his sword- there’s no telling where they were now. Besides… 

“Why aren’t you locking me up?” he asks, unsure if he even wants an answer. “I… Look, it’s not like I  _ wanted  _ to be a criminal, but I ended up one. Shouldn’t I be ‘locked up’ alongside the rest of the Thicket Thieves? Because yes, those guys are criminals too, but I’m sure they have their own reasons for it… you know, besides a general sense of greed and a lust for making people cower in fear as they turn over their personable possessions,” he rambles, then redirects his focus; “but just because they’re a bad influence on me doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be held accountable the same way they will be. Right?”

Mao Mao waits for him to finish, looking him over to ensure he’s done speaking- huffing, really- before butting in again. “The law has to be upheld. I believe that with my entire life. You broke it, and you will be punished for that, just… not behind bars. What I’m offering is a compromise.” 

“A compromise?” 

“Yes. You help me catch your ‘bad influences’, and I’ll consider your crimes appealed. Instead of sending you to jail, you’ll come with me. I hunt down bad guys, and your assistance will be community service. Sound good?” 

Badgerclops can’t believe what he’s hearing. It takes him a moment of processing before he can even undrop his jaw. “Wait, wait wait. So, you… want me to come with you… to catch more bad guys. And you won’t send me to jail if I do?” 

Mao Mao nods, then shakes his head. Badgerclops raises an eyebrow, and he frowns. “Look, I won’t send you to jail either way. Like I said, I- I believe you. It’s a hero's instinct, and it’s never wrong. But if you’re truly not a bad person, you should consider helping people instead of hurting people. I’m giving you a way to do that.” 

The cyborg badger looks back down to the small town. It seems so much bigger once you're in it than it does from a distance, doesn’t it? The cat watches him, eyes slit, waiting for his answer. It takes a few moments to come as Badgerclops bites his lip, thinking. 

He’s a criminal. He knows he’s not a bad person, but honestly, he isn’t sure how to be a  _ good  _ person. Everyone he’s ever been around has defined ‘good’ differently, both in morality and what was ‘good’ for him. He didn’t know what it truly looked like. 

But Mao Mao was giving him a chance, despite who he’d seen him be. 

And that was good enough for him. 

Badgerclops extends a paw. With a dangerous (warm, he’d call it later) smile, Mao Mao gives it a shake. 

And, with that, their fates are set. 

Time passes, and the two travel on. 

Mao Mao wants to be a hero. He wants to be a great one, the most legendary hero to exist. He wants to be more than his father says he is or his sisters make him feel. He wants to be  _ good.  _

__ Badgerclops wants to be good enough for him. Or, that’s how it starts. 

Eventually, the more they travel- the more monsters they face, arrests they make (as vigilantes, but Mao Mao finds ways to deputize himself more than once), and dangerous roads they walk- he starts to want to see Mao Mao succeed. He’d wanted that from the moment they met, really, but he knows he doesn’t have to travel with Mao Mao just to prove to himself that he is, in fact, a good person. Once he learns that, he’s free to leave, but he doesn’t; he wants to see Mao Mao be great. 

Personally, he thinks Mao Mao already _ is _ great. The guy goes out of his way to do the right thing every given moment, and the badger can’t ascertain how he does it with such conviction. There’s a passion there, a fire behind each swing of his sword, that amounts to more than a drive to act. It’s enough for Badgerclops to choose to stay by his side, even after he’s given out after out. It’s enough to make him want to be there for his friend. 

But Mao Mao doesn’t see himself as enough, not to anybody.

And that’s the thing- Badgerclops doesn’t find himself staying because the cat is skilled with a sword. That’s true sometimes, but others, it’s the way he smiles after a win, or his horrible jokes made in passing. It’s the way he grumbles when Badgerclops manages to walk ahead of him, and the way he hops up to reach something his small frame can’t quite make it to, then yells at his friend to give him a boost rather than simply asking Badgerclops grab it for him. It’s, sometimes especially, the way his eyes hold a fire that doesn't just destroy his enemies, but also keeps his friend warm. 

Badgerclops sticks around, and watches Mao Mao train and fight and win. He doesn’t plan on leaving, either. 

When Badgerclops was a kid, he was hushed out of creativity. He was shoved into advanced schooling for his quick thinking and mechanical ingenuity, and he was at the top of everything he did. 

When Badgerclops was a kid, he was everything Mao Mao wanted to be. Adored. Providing. Legendary. 

Badgerclops tells him the truth- that when he was young, he was Mao Mao’s destination. And he hated it so, so much. 

“I ran away, dude,” he forces out, wanting nothing more than to keep it buried deep down. He wanted to never confront it again, but the more Mao Mao pushed himself to try hard, then try  _ harder-  _ no, he needed to tell him. Mao Mao needed to know. “Being at the top… it takes away your freedom. It takes away who you are. You’re just an idol, a- a star, beloved and bright,” he makes a grand gesture to illustrate this point, to which the cat rolls his eyes at. “But you’ll fall from that sky someday, man.” 

“Cool, then people can make a wish when they see me.” 

“No- ahhh, Mao Mao, they’ll point and  _ laugh _ at the kid who finally cracked. I don’t… look, man, I’m gonna support you no matter what you want to do. You’re my best friend, you know that, but I also don’t wanna see you get hurt like you did today if you keep trying to  _ push  _ your way to the top instead of climb.” 

The cat rolls his eyes. “Badgerclops, I’m-” 

“You broke your left leg and cracked two ribs and you’re lucky your fur is black because it hides that black eye you’ve got but I saw you get hit, bro, and I can see you squinting.” 

Mao Mao blows a raspberry. After a moment of Badgerclops glaring daggers at him, he sighs, and it seems to pain his ribs- he sucks in a sharp breath again, then lets it out much more carefully. “So I jumped the gun a little today. It shows exactly why I need to be better. I… can’t be a legendary Hero if I fail like this,” he admits, whispering the end, looking anywhere but at the cyborg. 

The air is tense, and Badgerclops sighs for them both. Mao Mao was pushing his way to the top where Badgerclops had been pushed- and he’d fallen off. 

Mao Mao was stubborn, and he wouldn’t give this up. And Badgerclops would never ask him to. 

But he would do one thing. 

He’d be there to catch him if he falls. 

Years go by, and they’re still travelling together. 

Mao Mao fights, Badgerclops by his side, and together- they win. And when they fail, they pick up and learn and fight again, and win once more. 

“You know,” Mao Mao says, one day, after a long battle, one that was a loss before it was anything Mao Mao could find honour in, “... your eye used to be blue.” 

Badgerclops had noticed. He’s not sure when that happened, or why it’s taken so long for it to be acknowledged. “Ya man.” 

Mao Mao keeps going, though. “You used to have an accent, too. I guess you still do, technically, but it’s different now.” 

Was it? He’s not sure if he’d noticed that, actually. “Oh ya?” 

His companion nods. He’s busying himself with cleaning off his sword as he speaks, but his eyes are flittering between the two. “Uh-huh.” 

When nothing else follows, the cyborg raises an eyebrow. “And you’re mentioning this because…” 

Mao Mao looks back to the sword. This time, he doesn’t look back up, even as he shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know. I just… I’ve noticed.” 

The sword is very clean at this point, but Mao Mao continues to wipe away. Badgerclops isn’t sure what to do with his own paws, even as he asks, “Is that… okay?” 

The cat does look up at that, eyes soft. “Badgerclops. I like who you were when I met you, and I like who you are now.” 

Badgerclops smiles. “Oh.” 

Mao Mao looks back to his sword, paws stilled. “A lot.” 

Badgerclops’ smile flickers, surprised.  _ “Oh.”  _

__ No more words come as Mao Mao continues to clean Geraldine. Badgerclops hovers, for a long moment, at a loss for words. 

Finally, he sits, their knees touching. He gently cups Mao Mao’s paws, stopping the repetitive movement of the wiping. He takes the cloth away, and softly nudges Geraldine out of Mao Mao’s paws so that he can hold them instead. 

And he squeezes. And Mao Mao squeezes back. 

“Ditto,” Badgerclops says softly, every ounce of meaning pressed into a single word. Mao Mao shoves him off, yelling about personal space, face completely flushed. Badgerclops, in a similar state, yells back, and it’s exactly as they’d have each other. 

Loud, angry, sharp- but just a little bit soft. 

Years go by, and Badgerclops wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me @ dasicality on instagram and tumblr :)


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